Dick Morris: The UK Must Get Tough on Brexit

The voters of the United Kingdom have decided that their nation must leave the European Union and it is up to the government to make it happen.

Enough of Theresa May seeking to find a “middle way” — a euphemism for watering down the withdrawal and keeping Britain tied to the EU, effectively reversing the will of the people.

Peter Morici, a distinguished economist with the University of Maryland writes that the prime minister should inform the EU that “on March 29 — the date the UK is scheduled to leave — his government will declare unilateral free trade with Europe. It would continue to permit EU banks and professionals to do business and work in the UK if the EU does the same.”

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Let’s keep the UK-EU relationship in perspective. In 2017, UK exports to the EU were 274 billion pounds while imports from the EU were 341 billion — a trade deficit with the EU of 67 billion pounds! Clearly, the EU needs Britain more than the other way around.

If the March 29 deadline leads to a divorce, the UK would be relieved of the need to pay the EU $50 billion in alimony (the divorce settlement).

Morici says no way: “Europe will still need London’s financial sector to enable its follies — European banking would no more move from London to Frankfort than American banking would move to Charlotte if Manhattan became an independent country.”

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A divorce would necessitate a period of adjustment, to be sure, but Britain would come through with flying colors. The EU? Not so sure.

France is in the midst of a virtual insurrection against its government as the Yellow Jackets swarm Paris. Germany is fighting off right-wing gains in its local elections. Italy is in the grip of the crazy, extremist Five Star Movement. Sweden and the Netherlands are being torn apart by the immigration issue. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic are in open revolt against Brussel’s policies.

The Euro is down to $1.15 from $1.38 in 2014 and $1.58 in 2008.

The EU apologists think they are pushing the UK boat away from the dock to fend for itself in open waters. But isn’t the reality that the UK is pushing the EU dock away from the boat?

(I have been a consultant to the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). For a history of my role in helping to launch it, read my new book, available only at amazon.com — “Fifty Shades of Politics.”)

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